Varney 1/64 Varney Elco P.T. Boat (PT Boat)

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Varney 1/64 Varney Elco P.T. Boat (PT Boat) plastic model kit

1/64 Varney Varney Elco P.T. Boat (PT Boat)

Wood and Plastic Model Kit,   Box Condition: Exc++

A rare kit from 1944 for the advanced collector. This model has a fascinating history. During the 1930s the Varney Company was in innovator in hobbies. In the earlier days of model railroading, Varney produced some of the first train models in "O" scale. In the late 1930s, this was revolutionary. Serious scale model railroaders never bought kits - they built from scratch and 'kitbashed' from tin plate trains. Traditional craftsman builders rejected Varney's kits, but they began to sell and sold well. They opened the market to growth of model railroading and the building of the American hobby industry in general. (Please see the article on this site called the "HO Scale Model Railroading Revolution of the 1940s"). Well before HO (1/87 or "Half O") was the favorite scale, Varney made the bold move of selling all of it's O scale tooling in the late 1940s and exclusively taking on HO kit and train production. Inspired by the public reaction to the train kits, Varney made what was perhaps the very first American all-plastic model kit in the early or mid 1940s - the PT-17 Stearman. At the same time they released what may have been the very first all plastic American ship models, the Fleet Submarine, LST and PT Boat. But in 1944, before these Varney plastic kits were issued, they made what was the finest ship model of the day - the Elco PT Boat. With this kit, Varney set out to make a highly detailed kit that would almost 'fall together' - like the plastic models of the future. The result was this completely prefabricated model. The hull, stand, stand arm and superstructure is of 100% precarved hardwood. The hull is 15 inches long. Other precarved hardwood is included, as well as die cut main deck parts and a very extensive variety of metal and injection molded details. In all there were 130 precision parts! The kit was ground-breaking in that you could built a fantastic display model even if you had no wood-working skills. The kit is very rare today for two reasons - the original high price of $3.95 and the fact that hobby dealers simply did not know what to do with these highly prefabricated kits. Many would not carry them or would 'high shelf' them out of sight. Since the kits were not marketed well, they did not sell and Varney soon abandoned kit production outside HO trains. The kit has never been started and has been inventoried 100% complete with all pre-finished wood, plastic and metal parts parts, full size plans, detailed instructions and flag sheet.

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